FREE Literacy Tools - Immersive Environments

Free Literacy Tools - Immersive Environments

This is the third in a series of posts on Free Literacy Tools.  To see another literacy post click here.

Immersive Environments

These literacy programs try to capture student interest and engagement by creating worlds students are immersed into as characters in a story.  Although the concept of the learning is made more interesting, I have found the activities to be rigorous and lead to new learning.

classroominc.org

Classroominc offers 2 immersive work environments for students to practice reading and writing skills. One is a magazine office reporting on the aftermath of a recent storm. The other is a community center reaching out to help after the storm. Students navigate through a series of challenges making decisions to best serve the public. There are reading skill activities and writing assignments embedded in the program.

Grade Levels:

Middle School (5th to 8th grade)

Type of Texts:

Fiction and Nonfiction passages within the immersive environment.

Differentiation:

From the Website: "Our learning games include differentiated activities for a range of learners. Students who perform below a certain threshold on a primary assessed task are invisibly routed to one or more levels of scaffolded reading activities. Students who perform above that threshold pass on to more complex and challenging reading activities." 

Teacher Use:

After familiarizing students with the format, the game allows students to be independently productive.  Teachers can turn on and off specific assignment types to meet learner needs. Teachers can check many pieces of data on progress reports and decide which students may need some small group instruction on a skill. There are even pre-designed small/whole group skill lessons with step by step instructions for implementing.

closereading.amplify.com

Amplify Reading is a close reading graphic novel experience. Students start by creating an avatar and following it on its journey to save the world.

Grade Levels:

 Grades 5-8

Type of Texts:

From the website: Targeted concepts are organized into two distinct threads: informational and literary. Lessons on informational texts focus on the structure and types of argumentation. Lessons on literary texts focus on word choice and narrative structure, along with other advanced topics that emerge in later lessons.

Differentiation:

The texts can be read aloud by the computer. From the Website: Teachers will soon be able to assign students to one of four unique tracks of instruction: language learner, Spanish, grade-level, and advanced.

Teacher Use:  

Teacherscan monitor progress through progress reports showing how students are doing on the skills within the program.